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Directed by: John Woo Starring: John Travolta, Nicolas Cage, Joan Allen, Alessandro Nivola The movie is about Travolta having to transform into Cage (the man that killed his 6 yr old son) when Travolta is forced to try and pry information about the key location of a biochemical bomb that is about to go off in LA. Face/Off is a very fitting title for the movie as Travolta literally takes Cage's face and body in order to gain access to a top secrete prison where Pastor Troy (Cage) brother Pollux Troy is being held. This is not your typical action movie lets just say that. The face swapping is something thats so bizarre that its pretty cool, but also incredibly unbeleivable (no scars whatsoever when Archer takes C.Troy's face  , and the explanation was pretty poor). But other than that it was really awesome too see the 2 of them switch roles from being the good guy to being the bad guy. And like any John Woo movie it would not be complete with some great action scenes (opening and concluding action sequences are very nice).I guess that John Woo liked the face swapping thing so much that he decided to use it in MI2 as well though  RATING: 4 PROS: Fantastic too see Cage become the good buy and Travolta the bad (and vice versa), non-stop action CONS: Incredibly over the top plot, cheesy relationship with Archer and his family (very cliche) ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119094/
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Jun 1, 2004 12:46
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 23:05 |
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EDIT: ^^^^ Nicholas Cage's character name is Castor Troy, not Pastor. Castor and Pollux were the names of the Gemini twins from Greek mythology, and they were the half-brothers of Helen of Troy. I'm wishing I still had my copy of Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" book about now. From the votes, it looks like nobody else really likes this movie. Me, I think this is still the best American movie John Woo has ever made. The standard John Woo conventions are all here; doves, slow motion, dual pistols (I love Castor Troy's gold-plated dual 1911s with the dragons on the grip), people pointing guns right in each other's faces, you name it. The other mainstay of a John Woo movie is there too, and that's melodrama galore. Now, melodrama is tough to do properly since it's easy to screw up. Unless you go full-blast with it, it just doesn't work. Fortunately, that's exactly what John Woo does, and thus we get both John Travolta and Nicholas Cage acting completely over the top (especially Travolta) and a really soap opera-like plot. A lot of people probably base their dislike of Face/Off on this aspect of its storytelling, but it's not like Woo's most famous movies such as The Killer, A Better Tomorrow, and Hard Boiled were any different in this regard. But the real attraction is the action, specifically the gunfights. Let me put it this way: if you can't deal with unrealistic action scenes, this film is not for you. If you watch this movie expecting realistic gunplay, then you obviously have never seen a John Woo movie before. The thing about Woo's action choreography is that it's been copied so many times (by guys like Michael Bay, the Wachowski Brothers, and so on) that I get the feeling that most people consider this style of action old news, especially the slow-motion stuff. 5/5.5. I know, it seems like I rate a lot of things that, but I only tend to do posts for things which I have a relatively strong opinion towards one way or the other. These days, Face/Off sells on DVD for about $10. It's certainly worth that much. Daryl Surat fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Jun 2, 2004 |
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Jun 1, 2004 17:37
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to watch it for the first time it is great, but on future watchings this movie does not hold up well. as said before it is the best american movie john woo has done, but still it is no hard boiled. i liked & it gave me hope john woo would make good american movies. man what happen? 4/5
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Jun 1, 2004 22:41
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4/5 An excellent action movie. The plot and action sequences may be unrealistic, but gently caress if I care. I go into pure action movies with different standards than I go into an art or serious drama flick. What I did care about was the characters were amusing, and you get to see Cage and Travolta (two very good actors) attempting to take on each other's mannerisms. Now granted Woo is not exactly creative in the way he shoots his movies, he signature style is perfect given the material.
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Jun 1, 2004 23:36
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I thought it was great. It wouldn't have been as good without Nicholas Cage, though. 4/5
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Jun 1, 2004 23:44
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This movie has the most implausible plot ever, but I still found myself enjoying every minute of it because the action is so constant and quick. John Woo's action sequences suck you in immediately, and pretty soon you don't give half a poo poo about who's talking about what just so long as they've got guns in their hands and are ready to go at it. This is probably the best of Woo's movies since he moved to Hollywood and started making lovely movies. Two good actors going at each other with dual pistols. It's the epitome of a fun-but-not-good movie. 4/5
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Jun 2, 2004 00:56
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